The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-28

message completed-Morse rose erect, looked
| proudly about him, and said grandly as
though he were distributing kingdoms:
! Mr.. Kirk. the convention has adjourned.
| The train for Washington has just left Annapo-
| holding finally proof of his victory beyond all
disputing-"the ticket-the ticket is Clay and
| Frelinghuyeenp
"You are quizzine u.s. was the quick retort
| he heard whom this Was proclaimed outside.
Its easy enough for you to guess that Clay is
at the head of the ticket but Frelinghuysen-
who the devil is FrelinghuysenF
Il only know was the dienified answer.
| that it is telegraphed me from Annapolis
| junction, where my operator had the news five
| minutes ago from he train that ia bound this
| way bringing the delegates"
In those days the twenty miles from Annapo-
| lis junction to Washington made up trip of an
/ hour and quarter for the exceptionally fast
| trains. such as that which bringing the
| Wing delegates to Washington Long before the
| journey was over the Observation-Disclosures
even In those days-had extras on the Streets
and the newsboy was crying Justify the chrou-
/ Ice that Morse had caught flashing through
twenty miles of air. great crowd of people was
at the station The extras. with their cabaistc
legend by Telegraph" had whetted curiosity
| TO keeness edge. Out Of the jamned train
foremost in sending abroad TO friends the nspir-
| ting news that fortune was with Harry Of the
| West And how dumfounded they were, find
ing in very type before them the story that
| they had believed exclusively their own. Ger
tain they were that no railroad train had pre-
| coded their own. How. but by miracle. could
tue news nave gained 6ucn n0aoWSyf by tee-
| graph" SO they read in the headlines of the
| journals. "By telegraphw That pestiferous
| Morse! They had the wires stretching
along the track, all the way from Annapolis
Junction into Washington: they had seen it, and
they had joked about 1t eiibly. Phew! 1t
hard to realize. But-but-but what can a
do when he can't do anything7 The doubters
and the scoffers became Enthusiastically dumb.
S. F. B. Morse had won. When next he ap-
peared in public the people showe-ed him with
huzzas
He was no longer dreamer; he was doer;
and there were honors for him unstinted. Yet
he bore sill meekly, once in a while the calm of
that strong face giving way to a radiance
there but seldom in the later years
A stranger. who had been seated close to the
little company attentive to this "reminiscences.
arose as Mr. Kirk halted, offered his hand, and
said: This is a great big treat to me, sir. and
| hope you'll pardon nv intrusion My name is
Plumb, Col. Ralph Plumb they call me out
gress. just want to add one word to the story
you've told. know something of it myself /
was delegate from Ohio to that Clay conven-
tion L was on that first train to Washington.
l remember the little shed at Annapolis Juno
ton, where we stopped our way saw the
man there who was ticking away little
brass machine; saw him and talked with
him. l wanted to know what strange thing he
was doing. and he answered that he was tele-
graphing to Morse in Washington about
convention. and he pointed toward the wires
overhead running in Washington's direction,
the first wire ever put up for telegraphiug. In
common with all the rest OF the real wise
of the day. hailed the affair . huge joke, till
when we landed at the Washington City station.
Sure enough, Morse had had the uews an hour
or more ahead OF Us and the whole city was in
formed OF the fact that we had put dark horse
on the ticket with our hero Clay. The evidence
couldn't be upset, of course; the most prejudiced
OF us conldn't presume to suggest that Morse's
work WAS guessing-for man alive would
have imagined that Frelinehuysen could be
made the nominee for Vice president Yes, I'm
downrlghs glad to have met you. Mr. Kirk. you
make me feel young again with this tale you've
told Now. can't you come down to Washing
ton before this winter is gomez Id nightly
like to buy you one dinner"
When the gentleman from Illinois had said good
night leaving behind rather remarkable sensa-
lions. so strange was the coincidence he had
pointed, Mr.. Kirk told something of experiences
connected with the early advances of telegraphy
when l went West from Washington that
spring." he said, 81 took along with me samples
of the indented strips of paper they came
from the receiving instrument An enthusiast
l talked OF teegraphy to everybody l met In
Columbus, Cincinnati Indianapolis and other
Western centers met college professors busi-
ness men, and other people ranked high for in
tellect. knowledge and common sense, and all.
or nearly ALL We're pronounced skeptics as to the
prac ticability OF Morse's idea. And am putting
it little mild, think, in saying that the i'm
preston wasn't long in getting abroad that I
was "a little off, l meant well, but didn't
know. The last l remember of some of nv
friends out there they were still plying me-
II was in Indiana in the autumn after Con-
eress had made it's thirty thousand-dola appro-
priation to Morse for his experimental line The
CONGRESSMAN of that district up for e-eec-
ton. Poor deluded man. he had unfortun ately
voted for that appropriation. He had been for
years the political pride of his district The
people out there would give him anything
he'd take if they had the giving of it. OF
reelected as if by acclamatiou but before cleo
ton day he saw things differently. Ayourg |
man whom nobody had ever heard much of be-
fore got opposition nomination, and went |
stumpne all over the district. and before long |
the tight became very warm I have not one |
word to say against my opponent SO the young |
,a1~- -
man; his character cannot be impeached, he is |
honest reasonable, we'll informed a good neigh
Dor and a real nice man. But, gentlemen, while
be was in Congress he voted your money away |
upon clap trap things like this and the nom
inee, producing Congressional document, pro-
ceeded to read the text of the bill appropriatlng
$4,000 for Morses experiments. Thirty thou
sand dollars" he would exclaim. Thirty thou
sand of your hard earned dollars. gentlemen.
gentlemeu-to settle the practicability OF send. |
ing messages by electricity over wires stretched
long distances. What do you think Of it, gen.
tlemenf Yes. my opponent is a good man; he
means WE'LL but really. has his residence in
Washington helped him any2 If he had staid
here at homo with u. would ne ever have voted
If you think it right to vote for a man who can
be fooled in this way. gentlemen, all right,
but
1.-The old man was defeated"
Mr. Kirk told this further incident, that from
an irresponsible source would sound much like a
romsnce: just after the first telegraph office
Wos opchco AZ washington, occupying utUio
room over the city postofice. member of tn %
Cabinet entered one day in furry. and, hand
ing in a bulky document. directed the operator
to telegraph it over to Baltimore right away"
1t was closed with great seal. which the opera
tor proceeded to break, to the establishment OF
the statesman. who. oojectng, declared that the
paper contained State secret, and, of course,
must not be exposed to any unofficial eye
But can't telegraph it without / read it,"
insisted the operator.
We'll, then, you can't sent it at all, and the
high official left, excited and threatening. He
believed he being trifed with His idea
was that the telegraph was sort of aerial ex-
press for the whisking of packages through air
probably by hitching them onto the wire by a
good tough piece of Irvine.
Here is entertainmenr in transcript of the
earnings of that original Washington telegraph
office for the first week-in April, 1sz5-that it
was open for regular business:
! prl l, 2, 3 and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF
April Observation-Disclosures. 12la |
April T. 60